Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Wellington, New Zealand:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to WLG:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- WLG Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about WLG
- Map of Nearest Airports to FFD
- List of Nearest Airports to FFD
- Map of Furthest Airports from FFD
- List of Furthest Airports from FFD
- Map of Nearest Airports to WLG
- List of Nearest Airports to WLG
- Map of Furthest Airports from WLG
- List of Furthest Airports from WLG
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Wellington International Airport (WLG), Wellington, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 11,703 miles (or 18,835 kilometers).
A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between RAF Fairford and Wellington International Airport, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.
Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between RAF Fairford and Wellington International Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | FFD / EGVA |
Airport Name: | RAF Fairford |
Location: | Fairford, England, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°40'55"N by 1°47'24"W |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
View all routes: | Routes from FFD |
More Information: | FFD Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | WLG / NZWN |
Airport Name: | Wellington International Airport |
Location: | Wellington, New Zealand |
GPS Coordinates: | 41°19'37"S by 174°48'19"E |
Area Served: | Wellington, New Zealand |
Operator/Owner: | Infratil, Wellington City Council |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 42 feet (13 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from WLG |
More Information: | WLG Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
- The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
- The furthest airport from RAF Fairford (FFD) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,898 miles (19,148 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
- On 15 September 2009, it was announced that the USAF will withdraw all their uniformed staff from the station by September 2010, after which it will be run on a "care and maintenance" basis.
- RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
- The 422nd ABG at RAF Croughton and the 420th Air Base Squadron are responsible for the day-to-day operations of RAF Fairford, ensuring that it has adequate resources.
Facts about Wellington International Airport (WLG):
- Wellington International Airport (WLG) currently has only 1 runway.
- Because of Wellington International Airport's relatively low elevation of 42 feet, planes can take off or land at Wellington International Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
- Wellington has a reputation for sometimes rough and turbulent landings, even in larger aircraft, due to the channelling effect of Cook Strait creating strong and gusty winds, especially in pre frontal north westerly conditions.
- The closest airport to Wellington International Airport (WLG) is Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ), which is located 31 miles (49 kilometers) NNE of WLG.
- In April 2006, Air New Zealand and Qantas announced that they proposed to enter into a codeshare agreement, arguing that it would be necessary in order to reduce empty seats and financial losses on trans-Tasman routes.
- A full-length runway extension, to accommodate long-haul aircraft such as the Boeing 747, has been previously investigated, but would require expensive land reclamation into Lyall Bay, and massive breakwater protection from Cook Strait.
- Since 1998 the airport has been two-thirds privately owned by Infratil, with the remaining third owned by the Wellington City Council.
- The airport, in addition to linking many New Zealand destinations with national and regional carriers, also has links to major cities in eastern Australia.
- The furthest airport from Wellington International Airport (WLG) is Salamanca-Matacán Airport (SLM), which is nearly antipodal to Wellington International Airport (meaning Wellington International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Salamanca-Matacán Airport), and is located 12,406 miles (19,966 kilometers) away in Salamanca, Spain.